Those hoping that the Galaxy Nexus would be priced for maximum sales are about to be let down. Inside sources have confirmed that the Verizon edition of the Ice Cream Sandwich flagship will retail for $299 on contract.

The pricing was expected. Previously leaked documents pointed to the $299 price, and Verizon has set a precedent with previous LTE phones ringing up for the same price. Its cost matches the iPhone 4S with equal storage (32GB), but there’s a big difference: a 16GB iPhone is sold for $100 cheaper, but this is the only Galaxy Nexus that US customers will see at launch.

If any Android phone is worth $300, it’s the Galaxy Nexus. Its specs are top-of-the-line, it introduces the biggest Android firmware update since Eclair, and its design is beautiful. Running on Verizon’s speedy LTE network doesn’t hurt either. This is a premium phone sold for a premium price.

But it also continues an annoying trend from carriers and OEMs. The rat race for the latest and greatest leads most Android phones to be heavily discounted after a month or two. Their strategy is then to price the handsets as high as possible at launch to compensate for the inevitable hacking and slashing that follows soon after. Heck, even the HTC Thunderbolt, hard to give away now, launched at $250 in March. It’s an understandable business strategy, but it takes advantage of the most passionate of Android fans.

As for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus’s release date, it’s expected — but not confirmed — to be this Friday, December 9. Verizon is typically coy about release dates until the last minute, but Galaxy Nexus boxes have already started arriving at Big Red’s stores. That’s an encouraging sign.